Eynesbury Rovers have welcomed the decision to move them to the Spartan South Midlands League.

The club, who have spent most of the last 70 years in the United Counties League, were linked with a sideways move to the Eastern Counties League towards the end of last season.

This went down like a lead balloon at Eynesbury, with manager Mark Ducket even claiming that moving to the Eastern Counties, where they played for 11 years from 1952-1963, would be the death of the club.

Instead, their request to join the Spartan South Midlands, where they last played in the 1930s, has been accepted, cutting both travel time and costs and adding many more derbies to the fixture list.

Club chairman Matt Plumb said “It is an exciting new chapter in the club’s long history.

“With the United Counties Premier becoming full of Leicestershire-based sides, it was felt that the club needed to reduce travelling costs and offer the supporters more local derbies.

“A move into the Spartan provides that and can help secure a better financial future for the club.